on the other side there will be something, something better
by evermre
Summary: "I want him," Evie whispers into the air, late at night, stuffed in-between Jay and Mal in Carlos' bed, "I want Ben."


Evie understands, she really does.

It has to be Mal, because Mal has to get the wand, Mal has to break the barrier.

But still, why did Mal also have to get the boy? The _prince_.

Evie's more bitter than she is jealous. She'd been waiting all her life to marry a prince. Everything her mother had taught her lead to this moment, only for Mal to swoop in and steal it from her before she could even try.

(She doesn't hate Mal, she really doesn't. Mal's mother however, is another issue).

Knowing that there wasn't really much she could do to change anything, Evie attempts to forget about it, move her sights onto someone else.

Her eyes land on Chad Charming, though she soon realises he's anything _but_ charming. Still, he's textbook. Blonde, blue eyes, cute smile. She figures, why not?

It doesn't take long before she's swallowing those words.

Chad Charming might've been what she was looking for on the outside, but on the inside he was just a bully with an inflated ego, and the furthest thing from a prince.

After Chad it's Doug (it's not really, but she'll let him believe so), and he is better, but not by much. Doug wants so badly to see something more in Evie, something that would justify him falling for a villain kid, that it almost makes Evie's blood boil.

_"You're smart, Evie, I know you are." _

Maybe she is smart, and maybe she isn't. It didn't really matter to her (or Mal, or Jay, or Carlos), but Doug seemed to stake his life on it. Like he was begging so desperately for her to give him a good reason for being in love with her.

She doesn't give it to him.

So she was a little in love with herself, obsessed with looking her best, so what? Why did there have to be more underneath all that? Why did she have to be more than just a pretty girl?

She was perfectly happy with being who she was, with being a boy hungry, fashion obsessed, _villainess_.

If Doug couldn't accept that, then she would just find another boy, someone who would. And it wouldn't be hard.

Doug's brief little, barely there, presence in Evie's love life is wiped away, and she starts to hunt for her next prey.

It's a little hard though, considering how almost all of the other boys there were either carbon copies of Chad, or poor imitations of Doug. She almost starts to miss the boys back in the Isle (so they were a little rough, a little brash. at least they were interesting).

Evie doesn't think much about the _big plan_ while she's in Auradon, not while she's living the very life she's dreamed of since she was a child, but it makes a sudden and very unpleasant resurgence when her sights are brought back to Ben once again.

Part of her had knew it would eventually lead back to this. He was the only interesting boy in Auradon after all. Evie knew that she could have fun with the other boys, but in the end, he would be the most challenging contender.

She'll wait, at least until after the coronation, before she makes a move.

(It doesn't really matter to her if Maleficent comes and wreaks havoc, it doesn't really matter if she doesn't either. She just wants to have her fun, and make sure that she's able to capture Ben one way or another).

When the day comes, with Maleficent in tow, in all of her scaly glory, breathing fire, Mal does exactly what Evie thinks she will.

She fights back.

Somewhere along the way, somehow, having Ben for a boyfriend had more or less melted that icy exterior of hers. Evie knew she wasn't wrong when she had thought Ben was the most interesting boy here. If he had been capable of that, who knows what else he could do?

She's just a little excited to find out.

It has her wondering if he'd try and save her too.

Not that she really needs it, or wants it. Still, she wonders if it could be done, if he could do it.

"I want him," Evie whispers into the air, late at night, stuffed in-between Jay and Mal in Carlos' bed, "I want Ben."

Mal, who has never once fought Evie on something she wanted, stiffens.

"I won't let you have him." Is Mal's answer.

Evie is kind of glad. Glad that Mal isn't backing down from the challenge, glad that Mal knows she's serious enough to not just hand him over to her.

She's sure Mal is thinking it won't be so easy, for Evie to steal him away. Because this wasn't just any boy, it was Ben, and what they had wasn't just a fling, it was true love.

Mal has always been naive in that sense, thinking that the heart isn't fickle.

Evie starts small, slow, because she knows Ben probably believes him and Mal were indestructible too. In Mal it's a little insufferable, in Ben it's a little cute.

Becoming his Counselor is almost easy. She taps into that smart side of her that Doug had so desperately tried to seek out, and the rest goes pretty smoothly.

After that it's just a matter of time, just a little work of her slowly chipping away at Ben's self control when they were both alone in his office, getting too close to him by accident, smiling wide and full whenever he looked at her, touching him just slightly when they were next to each other.

It's taking a toll, and Evie can see it clearly, the way Ben's eyes drift to her almost naturally whenever they're in a room together, the way he loses himself in the smell of her perfume.

Mal seems to notice sometimes too, and Evie can tell she's constantly fighting herself on what to do about it.

So much for true love, huh?

None of this is being done to hurt Mal. Mal herself knows that, knows that she's just getting caught in the crossfire. That this was never about her, this was only ever about Evie and Ben.

Still, she is hurt, she is in pain, and it is undoubtably Evie's fault. But Evie is still her best friend, Evie is still the girl she has loved for years and will still love for years to come. That hasn't changed for Evie either.

She knows that. They both know that.

And still Mal will not just give Ben up for Evie, and Evie will not give up on the chase.

But of course, even after true love, even after what they all go through, the victor is Evie.

Ben comes to her late at night, whispers, a little scared, how much he yearns for her, and Evie kisses him so hard he forgets who he is.

The next morning, Ben ends things with Mal, and returns to Evie's side, and stays there.

He talks, almost endlessly, about how much he loves her, but also about how bad he feels about Mal. Evie gets tired of hearing Mal's name on his tongue, so she kisses him again, slow this time, in a way she knows he's never been kissed before (not by Mal, and definitely not by Audrey).

"Do you regret this? Us?"

There's a slight pause, where Ben isn't sure what he's supposed to say, but all it takes is for Evie to place her hand on top of his for him to come to an answer.

"No, I don't."


End file.
